Until The World Ends
by Misbegotten Misfit
Summary: Post TAC. Opal escapes prison with the help of her younger self and they kidnap Artemis, who is in treatment for Atlantis Complex, and brainwash him. He becomes the leader of her growing army and helps her take over the world. Holly have to stop then AND save Artemis, if she can.
1. Beautiful Girls

Opal Koboi sat in her cell in the maximum security prison of Atlantis. When she first arrived she tried to convince the council to release her but recently she'd stopped any attempt to contact them. The guards didn't think much of it nor did they care. Occasionally they would sit down at their break and talk about the pixie, joking about her.

"Looks like Opal finally gave up!" a young guard laughed.

Another guard chuckled, "Maybe she realized she'd never get out of here."

"Or maybe she's waiting for something." A feminine voice chimed in.

The officers turned to look at the beautiful woman standing before them in a short red dress, her long black hair draped over her shoulder. She stared at them with her cold black eyes and a playful smirk.

The younger guard smirked too and said, "Like what?"

A small grin formed on the woman's face as she said, "You'll see."

Then she walked away, giving one more ominous sounding comment before disappearing down the hall, "Enjoy your lunch boys."

* * *

A loud crash echoed down the hall and throughout the prison, followed by several shouts and more crashes. Eventually the door to the cell containing a small dark haired pixie was blown off its hinges and the woman in the red dress stood in the doorway examining her nails. The pixie glared at the woman. The two were identical in every way except for one small detail. The pixie in the cell had rounded ears as to where the other had pointed ones. The older Opal stood up and crossed her arms, "It took you long enough."

The younger Opal smirked and said, "That may be, but this timing is perfect for our plans."

"How do you figure?" The older Opal said as she made her way to the exit.

The younger purred out the words, "Artemis Fowl has just been admitted to the J. Argon Clinic."

Both Opals smiled wickedly, stepping out of the room and back into the hallway. The once orderly passage was now littered with bodies and debris and riddled with marks for explosions. Only a few of the bodies actually had visible injuries though; most just lay against the wall or on the floor.

The younger Opal nudged the body of the guard from earlier out of way saying, "What good is a man if he can't hold his poison?"

The older Opal glowered at the officers and spat on the one her other self had just kicked. Her twin looked at over at her, smirking once more. The older raised an eyebrow and young Opal said, "Oh, I brought you something to change into."

* * *

"Artemis?"

He heard a voice say his name but he didn't care to see who it was. He probably just imagined it anyway.

"Artemis?"

There it was again. He debated looking in the direction it was coming from for a moment. Finally he opened his eyes and turned his head slightly. Artemis then found himself staring into the worried face of and auburn haired elf. He closed his eyes again, but she was persistent.

"Artemis, are you alright?" Holly asked him.

He winced at her words. The elf placed a hand his arm but he hit it away. Artemis sat up and glared at her, "Why are you even here?"

Her eyes widened in surprise at his anger, "I'm your friend, Artemis."

He sneered and said, with a voice laced in venom, "It's your fault I'm sick in the first place, Holly."

Holly was taken aback by this comment. She only wanted to help him, "What are you talking about, Artemis?"

He pointed an accusatory finger at his friend, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. This came from being around fairies, being around you. If you'd stayed away after the first time I wouldn't be here right now."

She looked into his mismatched eyes sadly, knowing that it wasn't really him talking. Artemis would never say things like that. Her voice took on a sad tone as well, "Artemis…"

He ran a hand through his hair and said, "Get out…"

"But…" as she said this he interrupted her.

This time he shouted, "GET OUT!"

Holly was shocked for a minute, but that quickly gave way to an expressed of sadness and sympathy. Without another word she left the hospital room and walked down the psych ward to the front doors.

Normally Holly would visit her friend everyday before and after work. She'd stay all day on the days she got off. Unfortunately, most of those days were spent in the waiting room. There were days when he'd be alright to talk with her and the two of them would have ok conversations, but those days were few and becoming less. More often he'd lay there with his eyes closed pretending he didn't notice her or he look at her but not say anything. Occasionally there were days like this one when he'd snap at her which would leave her emotionally drained. She sighed, strapping on her wings. Maybe it'd be best if she did come back tonight.

Artemis hadn't even watched her leave. As he was about to lay down again the door opened. He expected it to be Holly, but instead two nurses walked in.

"Who are you?" he asked them, an eyebrow raised.

One of them smiled at him coldly. They both looked the same. _Twins? They seem familiar… _Artemis wondered.

The other one smirked and said, "Nurses."

Artemis rolled his eyes, "Obviously, but why are you here?"

"To give you your medication." The first one said while holding up a syringe, her smile becoming psychotic.

It was probably the paranoia, but Artemis was suspicious. That didn't stop him from accusing them though, "Then you're not supposed to be here until noon. Also, I don't get injections. You aren't nurses, are you?"

Their faces became serious then and the second one tossed her hair over her shoulder before answering, "No, but that doesn't really matter."

"Why?" He asked.

She put her hand over his mouth and the other one stabbed the syringe into his arm. Artemis began to lose consciousness instantly. As he passed out it dawned on him, the reason they seemed familiar, _Opal!_ The last thing he heard before he was swallowed by shadows by her answering him. She said, "Because we've already got what we came for."


	2. Master of Puppets

**Author: I plan on naming all the chapters of this story after a song. The first chapter was titled "Beautiful Girls" which is a song by Sean Kingston. This one is "Master of Puppets" by Metallica. Sorry this chapter's kind of short...**

* * *

Artemis opened his eyes, his head still swimming from the tranquillizer that had been injected into him. His vision began to clear soon and he could see his surroundings. The walls of the room were made of metal and held several panels that looked like the opened and a metal door was set into the wall across the room from where he was, but there was no knob on it. He tried to get up, to move, but found that he was unable to. As his eyes adjusted to the low light in the room he could see that he was strapped to a metal chair that was bolted to the floor. Artemis struggled to get out, but his efforts were in vain.

He looked up as the door slid open and one of the Opals walked in. She smiled coldly and said, "I hope you're enjoying your accommodations. We'll only provide the very best for such a special guest."

He glowered at her and said, with venom in his voice, "What do you plan to do to me Opal?"

She giggled a little and answered while placing a pair of headphones over his ears, "Do you see this chair you're sitting in Artemis? Its one of the ones I developed to use for mind wipes but never put in production."

"You're going to mind wipe me then?" He asked her.

Opal propped her elbow up on her arm and rested her cheek on her hand, "Not quite. You see, we've modified it for… other uses. You'll still have all of your memories, but they'll be irrelevant. Its not a mind wipe at all really, consider it more like… reprogramming."

The pixie didn't wait for him to respond. Instead she flipped a few switches on a console he hadn't noticed and a bolt of electricity shot through him.

* * *

Holly had gotten a call from Foaly while she was out on patrol. She expected it to be a usual conversation about some new invention he'd made, but when she answered it she could tell something was wrong. On the other end of the line Foaly sounded worried and panicked.

She shouted into the mic, "D'arvit, Foaly, calm down and tell me what happened!"

He still seemed frantic, but when he answered he was calm enough for her to make out what he said, "Artemis has been kidnapped."

Her eyes widened and she yelled, "What?! By who?!"

The words that came next made her blood boil in anger. The centaur said a simple name, "Opal Koboi."

* * *

The older of the two Opals sat in her hover chair gazing at the monitors that plastered the wall of the room. Each displayed something different; parts of Haven City, different areas of the human world, a room in the facility where a prisoner had just been with her younger self, and the one she was watching now. Her attention was focused on the image of an auburn-haired elf in an LEP uniform. This officer spoke into her communicator with fury and urgency and Opal found her distress amusing.

The door behind her slid open with a whoosh sound and two people walked in. One of them was a pixie that looked identical to her, but the other was a teenage human boy with raven hair and skin that looked as though it had never seen the sun. He wore a black peaked cap and a long black coat with red details. Two large red X's stood out on either side near the bottom on the front of the coat. The high black boots he wore almost blended in with his black pants. Opal knew this boy, but he was almost unrecognizable with the way he was dressed.

Her other self purred, "I was just informing our friend, Artemis, here about his role in our latest plan. He's more than eager to help."

She grinned, looking like a psychopath, "I thought he would be after a little… persuasion. I love to uniform you've design."

"I thought it looked fitting for the leader of the army of the future rulers of the world." Young Opal said, proud of her work.

"Definitely." Her counterpart agreed.

Opal got up off of her hover chair and stood in front of Artemis, scrutinizing him. The entire time he stood there and watched her. His mismatched eyes were hollow and empty and he wore a serious look on his face.

"Perfect." The dark-haired pixie said to the younger one.

Artemis spoke, his voice expressionless, "What task do you have for me, Miss Koboi?"


	3. Kill All Your Friends

Author: This chapter's title is "Kill All Your Friends" by My Chemical Romance

* * *

Butler, Holly, Foaly, and Juliet were all gathered in Artemis's room at the J. Argon Clinic. They had been talking and trying to figure out what to do. So far, the group couldn't come up with anything.

"Artemis always used to make the plans…" Juliet sighed.

"Well Artemis isn't here." Foaly stated.

Holly punched the wall, "D'Arvit! We're wasting time just sitting here!"

"Holly, we'll figure this out. I-" Foaly began to say, but he was cut off by a sound coming from Holly's helmet.

She picked the helmet up off the dresser and placed it on her head to answer the incoming call. The voice of Trouble Kelp came through and she switched to speaker so everybody could hear, "Short! There's a situation in downtown Haven and I need you on it, fast."

"I'm already in the middle of something. My friend's been kidnapped." She replied.

Trouble's voice took on an angry tone, "That can wait! Right now we have a weapons storehouse being robbed and we need every man we got on the job, so get down there. That's an order!"

Trouble hung up without another word. Holly, frustrated, took off her helmet and threw it at the floor.

"Holly…" Foaly started, but this time Holly interrupted.

Picking up her helmet and walking out the door, the elf said, "I have to go."

* * *

When Holly got to the scene several other officers were there trying to keep people behind the yellow tape and a group was waiting to go inside. She deactivates her wings and set down. One of the officers snorted and said, "It's about time you got here. You're supposed to lead the team inside."

The auburn-haired elf pushed past him and said, "I'm not in the mood to deal with you. Let's just get this done."

Holly readied her gun and the rest of the team followed suit, then she opened the door and stepped into the building. They stealthily crept through the place, looking for the robber. She sent the others off to different areas of the storehouse to cover more ground. She slid between crates of weapons, careful not to be seen, and made her way toward the back room. Everything seemed quite right now, but she was sure something was about to happened.

She kicked open the back door and thrust her gun out in front of her, but she let it fall back to her side when she saw the person in the room. In the chair sat a teenager with his feet kicked up on the desk and his arms crossed. He was dressed entirely in black, apart from the red details on his coat, and had skin as white as snow. Holly stared at him in shock and mismatched eyes stared back at her like a mirror, but without emotion.

"I've been waiting for you, Holly." Artemis said as his got up and stood directly in front of her.

Her mind tried to create a response, but all she could come up with was, "Artemis… How?"

He smiled at her coldly but said nothing. After a few more minutes of staring at him, Holly recovered herself. She began questioning her friend, "Artemis, How are you here? Why? How did you escape Opal?"

"Does that really matter?" He asked her and she heard the venom in his words.

Tears welled up in her eyes and the elf became angry. When she spoke again she was shouting, "Of course it matters! We've all been worried to death about you! _I've _been worried to death about you!"

His smile became a cruel grin and he grabbed her by the neck, startling her.

Artemis's poisonous words dripped ice as he said, "Well isn't that sweet? But you don't look dead. Why don't I fix that for you?"

He tightened his grip on her throat and she coughed and spluttered, gripping at his hand to try to pry it off. It didn't budge.

Holly choked out, "W-Why… are you… d-doing this..?"

He chuckled softly and said, "Why? Because you're the only thing standing between the Mistress and world domination. With you out of the way they'll be nobody to stop our plans."

A voice called out from some place in the storehouse, someplace close, "Captain Short?"

It was followed by footsteps come toward them. Artemis narrowed his eyes at her and seethed, "It looks like our little chat will have to be cut short."

Holly heard him, but it seemed like an echo. Her vision had begun to blur and the world was losing its color. Suddenly, she felt something cold and metal jab into her stomach. He let her go and she fell forward and hit the ground, the impact forcing the object further in. She watched him quickly climb a stack of boxes and open the large warehouse window. He paused before going out and said, "Until next time, Captain Short."

Artemis jumped out the window and left her laying there. She rolled over to her side and fell her stomach. Bringing her hand to her face she saw it was covered in blood. Artemis had stabbed her. She heard a voice behind her and could barely make out the words, "Oh My Gods! Captain Short!"

Holly felt somebody touch her forearm and heard him speak into his radio, "I need the emergency team now! We have an officer down!"


	4. Your Heart Is an Empty Room

**Author: The title today is "Your heart Is An Empty Room" by Death Cab For Cutie.**

* * *

Holly was barely conscious as she was transported to the nearest hospital. She didn't notice when they lifted her onto a stretcher nor when they got her on and off the ambulance. Her mind was drifting, fighting to stay focused. The only thing she could really focus on at the moment though was Artemis. She replayed the scene over and over in her head: Finding him, being choked, and getting stabbed. The elf couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her friend, wonder why he wanted her dead. _And who's this 'Mistress' Artemis was talking about? _She thought. She didn't have much time to think about it though because the doctors put her under so they could start healing.

She woke up to a plain white room with Foaly, Butler, Juliet, and even Mulch watching her with worried looks on their faces. Slowly, she sat up and ran a hand through her hair mumbling, "What happened..?"

Foaly scrunched up his nose and asked, "Don't you remember?"

The Auburn-haired LEP officer stopped and thought about it for a minute. The images came together and her eyes widened, "Artemis!"

"Yeah, he's been kidnapped. We already knew that." Juliet chimed in, stating the obvious.

Holly shook her head and said, "No. He was there at the warehouse, but he was dressed weird. I asked how he got there but he wouldn't answer. Then he…"

"He what?" Foaly asked.

"…he tried to kill me…" Holly finished, her voice trailing off.

Her friends stared at her in disbelief. Butler shook his head now and told her, "Artemis would never do something like that."

"I don't think it was Artemis… He wasn't acting like himself." She replied.

Foaly hmmed then asked, "Did he say anything?"

The elf nodded, "Yeah, he said I'm the only thing standing between the Mistress and world domination. Apparently that's why he tried killing me."

"'The Mistress'… hmm…" Foaly said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"What Are you thinking, Foaly?" Holly asked, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Opal." The centaur responded, "She must have done something to him."

"Like what?" Juliet asked.

Foaly thought for a moment before saying, "That's what we need to find out."

* * *

A silver candleholder flew across the room and broke against the wall, leaving a dent where it collided. For his part, Artemis remained calm and still while Opal threw it at him. He stood there with an emotionless expression while she proceeded to freak out and break things. The pixie threw several objects at him in the last ten minutes, none of which made contact even though he hadn't moved. She approached him, her fists balled up and a look of pure rage on her face. Opal stopped in front of him and glowered up at him with cold black eyes.

She shouted, "She's still alive!" before raising her hand and smacking him across the face.

He didn't so much as flinch. There was a hand print on his cheek where she'd hit him that was already fading. He looked down at her expressionlessly and said in a toneless voice, "I promise you; she will be dealt with, Mistress."

She stuck a sharp finger at him and seethed, "She best be! I've had enough of that elf messing up my plans!"

"I can assure you that Holly Short will not be an issue. She's merely a minor nuisance at this point. It will be taken care of." He said.

Opal stalked back to her hover chair, still angry. She looked at her monitors and let her eyes settle on one. This time it displayed a centaur typing away on his keyboard. She smiled wickedly.

"The centaur has always gotten on my nerves, always trying to one-up me." She hissed, sweeping her hair behind her rounded ears, "…But he won't be around much longer to annoy me."

"What would you like me to do, Mistress? What is the task?" Artemis asked, though he was certain he already knew what she had in store.

"That stuck up pony's going to be the first to volunteer to test my newest experiment!" Opal laughed manically, "Bring him to me!"

Artemis nodded and responded, "Of course, Mistress." Then he walked out the door.

* * *

Foaly packed his equipment, the things he could carry, into a bag and headed out to get the security footage from the evidence room to look over. He figured that it could help him figure out what had happened to his friend, or at least give him some place to start.

Arriving at the evidence room he looked for today's box. It wasn't long before he found it. Carefully, he pulled it off the shelf and opened it up, only to find it was empty.

"What?" He asked, more to himself that actually as a question, but he received an answer.

Grub Kelp had somehow appeared next to him and replied to his question, "It hasn't be organized yet."

Startled, Foaly turned wide eyes at him then huffed, "I need to review the security footage from the warehouse."

Grub nodded thoughtfully for a minute and said, "I could let you take them… but you'd have to bring them back as soon as you were done. I don't want to lose my job."

Grub Kelp was now working in the evidence room, organizing what came in and making sure nothing went out that wasn't suppose to. It wasn't much, but at least he had his own office in the back of the evidence room.

"Follow me. I'll get them for you." He said, leading the centaur to the back office.

When he steeped in the doorway Foal noticed him tense up, as if he'd seen something. The young officer turned around suddenly to face him. He was smiling to try to hide his sudden nervousness, but it was failing. He said, "You… You wait here. I'll get that footage for you."

Before he could reply Grub walked into the office and closed the door behind him. The blinds on the office window were down so he couldn't see in. A moment later the door opened and Grub stepped out, holding out a microchip to the centaur.

"Here you go. I hope you can find your way out. I have _a lot_ of work to do." He said and closed the door again.

Foaly eyed the room suspiciously before deciding he had more important things to do. He quickly put the chip in his pocket and went back to his tech booth.

Pulling the chip out he looked at it for a minute, sensing something out of place. He dismissed it and put it in a port on his computer, loading the information from it.

* * *

Grub Kelp quickly closed the door behind him, entering his office. He sighed, leaning on the door. He hurried over to the window and peaked through the blinds. Seeing that Foaly was leaving he relaxed some, sitting down in his desk chair.

"I gave him the chip like you asked." He said out loud.

The shadows shifted; the figure that had been standing in the back corner of the room walked over to the desk and sat on the edge. The only light in the room, the glowing red exit sign above the door, illuminated its face.

"Good. And the real chip?" Artemis asked.

"Its right here." Grub said, holding up the chip.

Artemis took it from him and placed it in his pocket. He stood up and prepared to leave. The teen left with out a word. Plans were underway and he didn't want to be around when it all went down.


	5. Nobody's Fool

**Title: Nobody's Fool by Avril Lavigne.**

* * *

"Lovely, isn't it?" The younger Opal asked as she turned the dials on a device that has yet to have a purpose.

"Not particularly, no." Artemis answered flatly.

The pixie rolled her eyes and checked the setting for the device on the monitor. The thing itself was odd. The main part was a large glass tube, about eight feet high with a diameter of three feet, and it open to allow a person inside. The thing was connected to several much smaller tubes placed around it, these where only a foot high and had a diameter of three inches. The whole thing sent and received information wirelessly from the control station only three feet from it, which was where Opal and Artemis were currently standing.

He watched her adjust the controls on the station's monitor and asked, "How exactly does it work?"

She looked up at him for a moment then gestured to the tube and said, "Step in. I'll show you."

Artemis was skeptical but he did as he was told.

Once he was standing on the platform inside the tube Opal spoke again, "Good! Now, when I manipulate these controls different processes will activate depending on what I decide. For example, when I press this key the machine will extract a sample of your DNA."

With the press of a button a mechanical arm descended from the top of the device, a long metal needle at the end. The arm poked the needle into Artemis's forearm then removed it and retracted back to where it had been. The door to the tube then opened and he stepped out, undamaged. Opal pressed another key and one of the smaller tubes filled with a blue liquid.

"After the DNA sample is extracted its analyzed and replicated. That would be the synthetic blue liquid you see in the small tube." She explained.

"Interesting. What will be done with it?" The teen inquired.

Opal shrugged and replied with, "I haven't decided yet. Human DNA isn't really needed for our plans so it's not important."

Artemis nodded in acknowledgement but remained silent. That silence lasted for an hour or so before the Irish boy stated, "You're not like her."

The young pixie turned her gaze to him, one eyebrow raised quizzically, "What do you mean? Who?"

"Opal." Artemis said as he leaned against a metal table.

She scrunched her nose and said, "I _am_ Opal."

He shook his head, "Yes, but you're not like her- The older you."

"How do you figure?" Young Opal asked.

"Why don't you hate me?" Artemis asked, dismissing her question.

She stopped then and took a moment to think. The question honestly puzzled her.

After a time she said, sounding unsure, "I guess… We just haven't met yet."

* * *

The moment Foaly loaded the security chip's information his computer went crazy. Windows opened showing error messages and warnings showed themselves whenever he tried opening or closing a program. Desperately, he pressed down the power button to try to force a shut down. That turned out to be a mistake because the computer began sparking. He managed to get out of the booth before they self-destructed, spraying electricity and electronic parts around the room. He peered through the door and saw his space was in ruins. Luckily he had the equipment he really needed with him.

* * *

"What?!" Holly exclaimed.

It was about an hour since the tech booth had been destroyed and about five second after Foaly told Holly about it.

"He must have come back and switched the chips before the LEP team got them. They have a team rebuilding the lab but it could take weeks. I don't know how this could get worse…" the centaur sighed.

Holly ran a frustrated hand through her hair and said, "Great… What are we going to do now?"

"I'm going to the warehouse to see if I can find anything. I'm glad I had all my necessary equipment with me or I couldn't even do that." Foaly responded and picked up his bag then headed for the door.

"Wait! I'm going with you!" Holly shouted before he stepped out, attempting to get out of her hospital bed. She had her arm wrapped around her stomach where she'd been stabbed and leaned on the bed to stand.

Foaly shook his head and helped her back into bed saying, "Oh no! You're not well enough to go back to work yet! Holly, you stay here."

With that he left.

* * *

Foaly entered the weapons storehouse alone. The LEP had taped off the area earlier that day and gone back to their lives. He was the only person within a mile of the place. He made his way past crates of weapons to the office in back where Holly had almost been killed. The centaur cringed seeing the blood stain on the floor. _Somebody should really clean that up… _he thought to himself. He shook his head, dismissing the thought, and then pulled a small device out of his bag. It looked something like a laser pointer, except that the hole the laser would come out of was on the side. He pushed the button and a beamed scanned the room, gathering information. It beeped and indicated that human DNA was present but found nothing else out of the ordinary. Foaly did a few more tests with the same results before checking the rest of the warehouse. Every test came up the same, telling him one thing: Artemis _was _here, but nothing more. He sighed once more and said to himself, "Maybe I can find the real security chip…"

"You mean this one?" he heard a familiar voice say from behind him.

Startled, he turned to see Artemis leaning against one of the crates holding a microchip, about 7 feet away.

He said, "Artemis…"

The teen did not respond. Instead he walked toward his former friend at a casual pace, like he wasn't in any hurry. Still Foaly stood there for a second, watching the human he'd once called friend, but the he shook his head, realization hitting him. _He tried to kill Holly! If he's here it can't be good! _He thought and turned to run.

Artemis sighed but kept his pace and said, "What's wrong, Foaly? Why are you running from me? Aren't we friends?"

The centaur darted between crates and shouted, "You tried to kill Holly!"

Artemis shrugged and replied calmly, "Couldn't be helped."

"What happened to you, Artemis? Why are you doing this?" Foaly asked.

"Why don't you come here and I'll tell you?" Artemis said.

Foaly snorted and said, "I'm not stupid. You'll kill me."

"Kill you? I'm not going to kill you, Foaly." He could hear the boy say.

"Why don't I believe you?" He asked sarcastically.

"Because you're a fool." Artemis said from directly behind him.

Foaly didn't even manage to turn to see the teen before he was electrocuted. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Artemis standing over him.


	6. You're So Vain

**Your wished has been granted! An Update! The title this time is "You're So Vain", a song by Carly Simon.**

* * *

Foaly woke up in a metal room. He got up and pounded on the door but it didn't budge. Something felt different but he wasn't sure what it was. He was going to kick the door with his hind legs, but when his hoof made contact with the metal he saw that it was not a hoof at all, but a human foot. Pain came from the impact and he fell back on his human bum, but he didn't notice the pain. Foaly stared at the appendage in shock and surprise. Slowly, almost as if he were scared, he reached out his hand and touched the place where a hoof should be and pulled it back quickly when he realized he wasn't just imagining it. _How..? What happened to me?_ He wondered, moving closer to the metal wall. It reflected his appearance, as he thought it would, so he could see if anything else had changed. The first thing he noticed was his face. His skin was considerably lighter being that it wasn't covered in a thin layer of fur anymore. His hair was longer now, coming down to his shoulders. He looked about seventeen, but it was hard to tell. He looked at himself in the reflection, leaning his head on the wall and sobbing.

* * *

Earlier.

"I hope you didn't have too much trouble hauling him back here." The younger pixie smiled.

"Not in the least, Young Mistress. I would like to know what you plan to do with him though." Artemis responded.

She shrugged, "My older self already has plans."

"Yes. And they must be implemented immediately." The Older Opal walked in and glared at Artemis.

He nodded and said, "Yes, Mistress. What would you like me to do with the centaur?"

She smiled wickedly and said, "Place him in the DNA Chamber. We'll have something to do with your DNA after all."

Young Opal looked at her elder suspiciously. She was curious as to what her other self had in mind, so she followed her to the lab. Artemis had managed to get the centaur into the glass tube somehow and was standing near the control panel. He looked composed and serious like he usually did when the older Opal was around, but the younger knew he'd had a hard time with the order. The boy was stronger than he was when they'd taken him, but hauling a centaur would prove a difficult task for anybody. She was impressed that he could do it, and even more impressed that he didn't let it show how hard he had to work. He raised an eyebrow at her and she realized her emotions had been written on her face. Straightening herself and taking a serious expression she took her position to manipulate the controls.

Her elder spoke, "Good. Begin extraction."

Young Opal nodded and began the process. Just as it went with Artemis, a needle came down from the top of the tube and extracted DNA from Foaly. Another of the small tubes was filled, this time with a green liquid.

The older Opal's cruel smile became psychotic as she said, "Now… Erase the code!"

"What?!" the younger exclaimed, "It could kill him! That hasn't been tested yet!"

Her senior's face distorted, her pretty features becoming ugly with rage, "You think I care?! That centaur has undermined me for the last time! Do it now!"

After a look of shock passed the younger began to erase the genetic details of Foaly's DNA, stripping away gene after gene. As the process continued the centaur began to stir and scream in pain. His image was obscured when the liquid was injected back into the chamber as a mist that coated the glass, but they could still hear the screams.

When Older Opal gave her next order vemon dripped from her words, "Replace it. Human DNA should produce an_ interesting_ result."

Young Opal hesitated but did as instructed, inserting the human genes where the centaur genes had been removed then injecting the mist into the chamber. The two mixed together forming a color reminiscent of the ocean.

The young Opal glanced back at Artemis. His eyes were fixated on the tube, watching with emotionless eyes. It was impossible to tell if he felt anything, but she liked to think he would. _They used to be friends… Surely he has to care? _The young pixie thought to herself, _then again he did bring him here in the first place._

The screaming faded and eventually stopped. Older Opal gave a deranged giggle, turned to her younger self, and said, "Open it! I want to see my beautiful creation!"

She rushed to the chamber as the doors opened with the other two casually following behind. A human teen fell out of the tube and on to the floor; he looked older than Artemis, but only by a few years. _Understandable, _Artemis reasoned, _fairies age differently than humans. The age would translate to being younger. _The group observed the new human. He had a beautiful face and long, thin limbs. He lay there wearing the clothes he'd had on previously, a sweater that was now too big for him, looking like a sleeping child. His shoulder-length hair was plastered to his face, still wet from the mist.

The elder Opal stared down at the teen and laughed manically, "This is perfect!"

She whipped around and stumbled slightly before standing up straight and laughing again, sounding completely insane. The other two noticed her eye twitching, but she continued through the room to the door. She stopped to say, "Oh. Put him in one of the store rooms and lock the door, just to make sure he doesn't get out." Then left.

Artemis sighed and nodded once before hefting the other teen over his shoulder, no easy feat considering the other was a foot taller than him, and took him to a storage closet.

* * *

In The Present.

Holly jumped out of bed at the news with an angry, determined look on her face. Juliet shot up too and stood in front of the elf saying, "Where are you going?"

For her part, Holly glared into Juliet's eyes and stared her down furiously despite how weak she still was.

"Get out of my way, Juliet. I'm going to get my friends… and give Opal a piece of my mind." She said.

"You've lost your mind if you think I'm letting you out of here. You haven't recovered from your injury yet!" Juliet replied, glaring back.

Holly seethed and shouted, "I'm fine! And I'm no use to anybody if I just lay here forever! Meanwhile Artemis has been brainwashed and who-knows-what is being done to Foaly right now! I'm going and you won't get in my way!"

"Then you'll have to move me because I'm not letting you through!" Juliet persisted.

Holly balled her fists and replied darkly, desperation in her voice, "Then I will!"

Juliet's eyes widened and she stood down, moving so the elf could get out the door.

She picked up her things from the front desk and quickly changed into her uniform. Holly ran out the front doors and took off, activating her wings. She was going to find Opal, and when she did the psychotic power-hungry pixie would regret ever meeting Holly Short.

* * *

"It looks like our little _friend_ is up on her feet again. It doesn't matter though. She won't interfere." Opal said, absently rubbing the spot where the point of her ear had been years before. She glanced at the charts in front of her and looked over the results.

"The experiment went perfectly. We can start collecting the samples and we'll be well on our way to completing stage two of glorious my plan." She continued.

Suddenly, she stood and walked over to a small cube in the corner.

"I think it's about time I rewarded myself. Immortality is just around the corner…" She purred, opening the cube. She smiled and drew out a chocolate truffle.


End file.
